'The Guanaco', the local name for the oil pump, is now all over 25 de Mayo.

Four years ago, in this little town in the pampas, prospecting oil companies found oil reserves. Not a great deal, but enough to drill for ten years. Attracted by high wages, workers arrived en masse and the town’s population has since doubled.

Raul Oscar Vila, a spokesman for Brazilian oil giant Petrobras, said: "25 de Mayo, a town that had originally lived on farming and livestock, has totally changed with the oil boom. It will carry on growing but it needs to develop hospitals, schools, housing and public services to accompany the industrial development".

David Bravo is walking the streets of the new suburbs of his town. Elected one year ago, he’s the youngest mayor in Argentina. His first concern is housing. There’s a lot of demand and little means to respond to it. As a result, housing is no longer affordable. With the Province’s aid, he launched a social housing program.

"Those who work in the oil industry, with higher incomes, don’t have any problem to rent, Bravo told FRANCE 24. But the others, civil servants, employees or people that came here and can’t find work. They can’t make ends meet ! This project is intended to balance this type of inequality".

The reserves of black gold have changed the economic situation. Everybody wants a share of the bonanza from this new discovery, particularly the trade unions, which started a power struggle that has now led to violence.

Not everyone is happy about wages quadrupling. For the local wine and horticultural producers, it is increasingly difficult to find workers who will accept lower wages.

"This bonanza is an illusion. It won’t last for ever, said Adrian Barrios, manager of the Bodega Alto Valle del Rio Colorado. They are drilling for oil… but what happens after that ? Just a pump operating on its own and a lot of unemployed people".

This fear is shared by the teachers of the town.

After five years’ studying abroad, Marina Alvarez went back to her hometown and noticed the change. High prices, unaffordable housing, a poverty gap and envy that affects her students.

"I’m seeing more and more pupils who want to stop studying, she said. They are 16 years old and are giving up school to work. They can get rich quick, buy a car and live in a material world".

From the depths of the town, 6 million barrels of oil are drilled annually, delighting the three oil companies settled there - but leaving its mark on the town for generations to come.